Outine:
– Run before Crawling – trying to attract a mainstream audience too early. not niched down enough to stand out
– Too general – Choosing a message that’s too diluted to get traction
– Choosing a title that doesn’t convey the Clear & Compelling Idea
– No direct, straight line from podcast listener to ideal client
– No feedback mechanism from their audience prior to launch
– Going it Alone – fail to build or tap into their network of fellow influencers to support their launch
– Focus on tech over content
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The biggest fear in launching a podcast is that it fails to attract an audience and falls flat.
In this article/video I’m going to pull back the curtain and share the biggest mistakes I’ve uncovered in 5 years of launching podcasts for super niche business coaches and consultants.
There’s no theory here, just real mistakes real people make in launching their podcasts and how to avoid them.
Let’s start with 1) No feedback mechanism from their audience prior to launch
This is probably the easiest and most common mistake, because asking for feedback during the launch process can be messy and it gives other people a voice into something that’s very personal.
I worked with an ex-Silicon Valley executive on his podcast some years ago, and he almost pulled the plug on the podcast launch the night before we went live. This is one of the most self-assured, confident people you’ll ever run across, but launching a podcast freaked him out.
Why? He told me this is the first thing he’d put in the world that was 100% him. His name, his reputation on the line.
No big company behind him, no co-authors, no one else to blame.
But what if he knew that he had an audience of people waiting, who already loved the show title – because they helped pick it out. They loved the artwork, because they helped pick it out. They knew what guests and topics were coming up, because they were tested before the launch.
That changes everything. Not only does it give you the assurance that the podcast launch will be a success, it actually results in a better show.
Our agency just launched a podcast for a consultant in the healthcare space, and we did several things differently.
We tested simple things like terminology. Do you call yourselves doctors or physicians? Turns out her audience preferred the term “physicians,” apparently the term doctor carries all sorts of associations we weren’t expecting.
Then we came up with our podcast titles based on that feedback, and we put very different 2 podcast titles out to her social media following for a vote. She and I both thought one title would win. Overwhelmingly her audience voted for the other title. And we were humble enough to go with the audience winner.
As a result, when the podcast came out, she immediately hit the ground running with great reviews, great downloads, and shares on social and into niche Facebook groups full of potential listeners.
So the takeaway is get feedback from you ideal listeners, early and often. Get them involved in every aspect of the podcast well in advance.
Now let’s get into mistake #2, “Consistency” over “Custom”
This is a really tempting one for anyone who loves their brand.
A new podcast needs to stand out visually AND deliver a clear benefit.
Basing a podcast around an existing company brand often fails to do either one.
Maybe some other podcast has colors similar to yours. Maybe another podcast uses a similar theme or promises a similar benefit.
Don’t ignore the competition and just put your brand on a podcast and count on the brand to carry the podcast to success.
It’s better to start from the ground up and create a podcast brand that stands alone.
Then maybe add your logo to the corner or put it in the description.
If the podcast doesn’t build an audience, it won’t matter how “consistent” it is with your brand.
A good example is one of our favorite podcasts, the Team Building Podcast. It’s for high producing real estate agents looking to build teams around them. Super niche. But we didn’t name the podcast after the consulting business. We gave the podcast it’s own name designed to stand out against other podcasts.
As a result, it launched strong, hitting top 10 in the marketing category and still gets 10k downloads a month in a space where the total number of potential clients are less than 25k.
So the takeaway is create a custom podcast brand that stands out and attracts an audience.
Then send those people to your website through a call-to-action, and people will see your brand there.
Moving on to Mistake #3: Not aimed at building a cult following first.
The best way to think about launching a successful podcast is to treat your podcast like a band promoting their music.
They proudly build a cult following first, then go mainstream. The music that eventually goes mainstream starts by repelling most people who hear it.
Same applies to podcasting.
One of the most common mistakes I see is aiming the podcast at a mainstream audience right away.
This creates pressure to appeal to everyone, and so podcast hosts end up diluting their podcast in everything from the title to the artwork. Their podcast ends up being so broad and bland that it doesn’t appeal strongly to anyone.
If your podcast brand doesn’t turn off the wrong people immediately, it’s not going to attract the right people immediately either.
Those two forces are directly related. To strongly attract the right people, you must strongly push the wrong people away.
When I tell certain people that my podcast is called MicroFamous, their first response is, “Why would I want to be “micro” famous when I can be famous to everyone?” Inevitably those people are extroverts and ego-driven, which is exactly the folks I’m trying to repel.
When I tell extroverts that my podcast is mainly for introverted coaches and consultants, their first response is, “Can introverts even be good at marketing? Aren’t they all just quiet and shy?” So again, my podcast pushes those people away.
So the takeaway here is: Aim your podcast at building a cult following first. Niche down until you strongly repel the wrong people, and strongly attract the right people.
Now we’re on to mistake #4: Obsessing over tech rather than content.
For folks with more money than time (which is most of my clients), they often want to drop several thousand dollars on the “best” podcast gear.
I have to remind them that Tim Ferris has millions upon millions of downloads and records most of his episodes with a $100 Shure SM58, the stage microphone bands use on tour. It’s built like a tank and he can use it to record in the hot tub if he wants (see his episode with Rick Rubin as an example).
I started my podcast with a left-over Audio Technica microphone I had from recording vocals for a music album.
I found it to be a little too good. Too sensitive. It was a great microphone for a recording studio, but not great for sitting at a desk recording podcast episodes. Let alone recording from a hotel room or other environments I had to podcast in while traveling for business.
I’ve recorded in random conference rooms, hotel rooms, hotel lobbies, patios, kitchens and more.
That’s why I use an $80 microphone called the Audio Technica ATR2100X. It’s not overly sensitive, and it only picks up what’s right in front of it. This is perfect for podcasting when your environment is rarely perfect.
In other words, the gear that works in the real world for podcast hosts isn’t necessarily the most expensive.
People also obsess over recording platforms looking for the most pristine audio with the highest bit rate.
I recommend my clients record on Zoom. Is there options for higher quality audio? Of course. But when you’re interviewing guests, using all these other options can actually create more issues than they’re worth.
Using a simple, reliable system that everyone knows, especially for interview episodes, is more important than pristine audio.
There’s a point where the audience can’t really tell the difference between good quality audio and great quality audio. There’s no sense in obsessing over your tech once you hit the point of having good quality audio.
Here’s the takeaway: Upgrade your gear where and when it makes sense, but don’t obsess over it. Your audience only cares to a point.
We’ve come to the final mistake, and it’s a big one. Going it Alone. Failing to build or tap into their network of fellow influencers to support their launch.
It’s so easy to get tunnel vision when launching a podcast that you forget about other influencers who could support you.
There are other influencers who have audiences that might be interested in your podcast, and some would be willing to share your podcast with their audience, but most podcasters never ask.
It doesn’t take much.
When I launched my first solo podcast, I reached out to my clients and friends who had social media followings, and I simply asked them in advance if they were willing to share my podcast online when it launched.
Some agreed, and I kept track of those and kept them up to date on the progress of the launch.
On the launch day, I sent them text and graphics to share, and as a result, to a lot of people, it felt like my podcast was everywhere for a few days.
I did the same for the launch of the MicroFamous book, and this time I pushed it a little further.
I recorded 2 different voice messages through Facebook Messenger and sent them to myself.
Each one was intended for people in 2 different groups of influencers depending on how comfortable we were with each other. So one message was super, super personal, the other was a little more formal.
I sent that message to everyone in my Top150 relationships as well as some other influencers I knew less well but I thought would be interested.
The same thing happened. I was able to get amazing early reviews on the book, then I followed up and asked them to post those reviews to Amazon and hit the ground running with high-quality reviews on Amazon on day one.
It’s not hard to do this, but it requires putting ourself out there and calling in some favors. Hopefully we’ve been doing favors for key influencers in advance, because a podcast launch is the perfect time to call in some of those favors.
The takeaway here is: Leverage your network of influencers and get them involved in promoting your launch. Don’t launch alone.
If you’re reading this because you’re looking at podcasting to attract clients, I have a specific next step for you.
When you click Continue, you’ll see an article/video where I go deep on how to launch a podcast that creates ideal clients over time.
If you’re looking to build big, mainstream audiences and get sponsors, this might not apply to you.
But if you are a…
– niche business coach, consultant or thought leader…
– driven to teach, train and lead entrepreneurs…
– looking at podcasting to build a super niche audience and sell high-ticket programs and services…
…this article was written with you in mind.
Podcasting to build an audience and sell high-ticket packages is VERY different from any other form of podcasting.
There are specific elements your podcast needs in order to convert people to your point of view, lead them to new beliefs, and create ideal clients.
So if that’s why you’re looking at a launching a podcast, click Continue to read on!
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The biggest fear in launching a podcast is that it fails to attract an audience and falls flat. In this article/video I’m going to pull back the curtain and share the biggest mistakes I’ve seen in 5 years of launching podcasts for business coaches and consultants.